Anthony's Reviews > Pachinko
Pachinko
by
by
![4009947](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1534088626p2/4009947.jpg)
Anthony's review
bookshelves: national-book-award-nominees, modern-american-lit, poc-authors, 2021-popsugar-challenge, 2021-sffbc-tbr-challenge, queer-content
May 07, 2021
bookshelves: national-book-award-nominees, modern-american-lit, poc-authors, 2021-popsugar-challenge, 2021-sffbc-tbr-challenge, queer-content
This is an excellent, sprawling — and intimate — portrait of four generations of a Korean family, before and after they emigrate to Japan in the early 20th Century. I had been unaware of the complicated, painful colonial chapter of Japan-Korea relations until I worked in Seoul a number of years ago, and I met an older Korean translator who shared with me some of the history. This novel is the first work of art I’ve found that attempts to explore and bring to life this history, and Min Jin Lee’s compassionate approach does a beautiful job of making the history personal and specific.
She works in what has become a very unusual style: her third-person voice is omniscient, in some cases inhabiting the thoughts of two or more characters on a single page. She pulls this off seamlessly and effortlessly.
She also brings a welcome subtlety and precision to her writing, and that subtlety and control allow her to run a wide gamut in her depictions of scenes and moments.
I really admire this book very much, and I felt quite drawn in and compelled by it. But I was only rarely moved, and that’s the factor that keeps it from rising to 5 stars. But it really is an excellent novel, well worth reading.
She works in what has become a very unusual style: her third-person voice is omniscient, in some cases inhabiting the thoughts of two or more characters on a single page. She pulls this off seamlessly and effortlessly.
She also brings a welcome subtlety and precision to her writing, and that subtlety and control allow her to run a wide gamut in her depictions of scenes and moments.
I really admire this book very much, and I felt quite drawn in and compelled by it. But I was only rarely moved, and that’s the factor that keeps it from rising to 5 stars. But it really is an excellent novel, well worth reading.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Pachinko.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
May 4, 2020
– Shelved
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
to-read
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
national-book-award-nominees
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
modern-american-lit
May 4, 2020
– Shelved as:
poc-authors
December 12, 2020
– Shelved as:
2021-popsugar-challenge
December 16, 2020
– Shelved as:
2021-sffbc-tbr-challenge
April 30, 2021
–
Started Reading
May 1, 2021
–
18.0%
"It’s refreshing to read a novel as delicately and subtly crafted as this one is in the early going."
May 5, 2021
–
68.0%
"Finished Part 2. I continue to be impressed by Min Jin Lee’s subtle, sure handed approach. I’m also struck by her facility with the omniscient 3rd-person voice; I hadn’t realized how rare it is to read books that are not written in limited 3rd-person."
May 6, 2021
– Shelved as:
queer-content
May 7, 2021
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
date
newest »
![Down arrow](https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/down_arrow-1e1fa5642066c151f5e0136233fce98a.gif)
![Anthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1534088626p1/4009947.jpg)
![Jemppu](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1702114783p1/85472654.jpg)
![Monica](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1651201960p1/4739465.jpg)
![Anthony](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1534088626p1/4009947.jpg)
I think it was also the first narrative I've encountered set in Japan with Christianity in prominence.